Heath Ledger Died from an Accidental Overdose, Says Medical Examiner

According to the New York City medical examiner, Heath Ledger's death was due to an "accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs." For those hip to different medications, the official cause of death was "acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine." Apparently, these are the generic names for Oxycontin, Valium, Xanax, Restoril and Unisom. There was no word on how much of each he took, or whether a heavy dose of one was what ultimately did him in, but a spokeswoman did note that his death was due to "the cumulative effects of these medications together."

This ruling finally came two weeks after the actor was found dead by a masseuse in his rented SoHo apartment in New York City. Original reports claimed the apartment belonged to Mary-Kate Olsen (which turned out to be false), and the masseuse actually called Olsen several times before calling for an ambulance in an attempt to get the young actress to send her security crew. This was the part I had the most trouble with -- if you found this dude unconscious on a floor, would you want an ambulance there or Mary-Kate Olsen? Whatever the case, it's obvious Ledger (may have) had a pretty strong addiction to pain killers and sleep medication, if it was taking that many pills to knock the guy out. It's my belief that too many young kids today are sucking these pills down like they're water, not really understanding what they do or how they can harm you. Hopefully Ledger's death will provide enough of a wake-up call to those who are currently suffering from their own addictions.